Shae O'Reilly
Shae O'Reilly 'is a main character in ''Oxygen. She is the navigator, the youngest of the crew on Icarus I having lied about her age. She is 25 years old and is 5'3. She was born on 23rd September, 2032 Background Shae was always good with numbers and calculations. She was very smart for her age, and once she had visited an area, she knew her way around it well. This made her a very good candidate for navigator, as did various psych tests that established her ability. She joined the Icarus project at the tender age of sixteen, although she altered her records so that it appeared she was twenty. DNA testing quickly established that she was in fact Pinbacker's daughter, a fact unknown to Shae as her father had left when she was very young, she had no memories of him and her mother didn't talk about him. This initially made her believe it would be the cause of friction, before she convinced the Icarus I doctor, Lynda Clark, to keep the results secret. Icarus I left Earth when Shae was seventeen. Her true age was revealed soon after she turned eighteen, not that there was much she could do about it. Pinbacker also learned upon finding Lynda's log that Shae was in fact his daughter. He attempted to patch up their relationship and make amends, but Shae couldn't forgive that he had left her and her mother. They had very nearly reached the Sun when Pinbacker turned on the crew, locking five of them in the observation chamber and letting the shields down to burn them. Trent attempted to undo the sabotage being stabbed to death by Pinbacker. Terrified, Shae sealed herself in the air vents, situating herself above the kitchen where she went to get food. Here she remained for seven years until she was found by the Icarus II crew. By the time Shae was found, she was twenty-five years old. She had difficulty walking due to her practically unused legs, and spoke rarely. She was also filthy from not having cleaned properly for years, and basically a mess, still terrified of Pinbacker upon her discovery. Appearance Shae looks a little older than her age despite her slight stature. She has copper curls and grey-blue eyes, as well as doll-like features. She is quite well-built and only entered a bit of a dilapidated physical state when she was forced into hiding on Icarus I. Personality Shae has a kind of internal strength that is only really displayed in the most desperate of times. She is normally quiet and mild-mannered, seeking to try and be on the best terms with people that she can. She cries easily, and in dire situations can grow quite hysterical. Otherwise, she is friendly although somewhat shy. She also seeks to make good relationships with people, especially since the incident on Icarus I where she doesn't know when people might turn on her. Ambitions Unlike Pinbacker, Shae would give anything, including her own life, to save the Earth. She is fiercely determined about her cause and sees it as her chance to do something right. She is desperate to prove that despite her young age, she is still very capable and driven, willing to do whatever it takes. Strengths Shae is stubborn to a fault, very determined about who she is and what she can do. She is fairly confident in her abilities, but not arrogant. She is also very mentally strong and has what it takes to be a survivor, which is proven in the fact that she has survived seven years on Icarus I. She is quite independent and somewhat of a lone wolf, not needing to rely on others for support. While she is receptive to others, she is not trusting and is very suspicious of those around her. Weaknesses Shae can often panic a lot during a stressful situation. She lets her fear get the better of her and often goes into a quite hysterical mode that it's hard to shake her out of. She may tend to freeze up. Shae is also not physically strong and does not like violence or weapons, which makes it difficult for her to want to defend herself in any situation. Habits When frightened, Shae puts her hands over her ears, curls her knees to her chest and rocks to herself. She does not like shouting. She paces when she is agitated, and also has a habit of biting her nails when she is nervous. Shae also plays with her hair or bites her lip when she is deep in thought. Relationships '''Family 'William Pinbacker' Shae did not have a fantastic relationship with her father. He left her mother when she was only months old, and she has never forgiven him for this. Even during the Icarus I's sixteen-month voyage, Shae refused to have much to do with Pinbacker, maintaining a strictly professional relationship with her father even though he tried to adopt a paternalistic attitude towards her. However, even during the massacre, Pinbacker stopped pursuing Shae after a point, and durig her entire seven years in hiding, did not actively go after her. In fact, he assumed her dead, which confuses Shae as to whether he would actually kill her or not. 'Leyna O'Reilly' Shae had quite a good relationship with her mother, especially as Leyna was the only family she really had. Howevere there were rifts, especially as Shae often felt that her mother was keeping things from her, such as information about her father. Leyna never really understood Shae's desire to go into space, and found it hard to relate to her daughter as the two were quite different. 'Friends' 'Trent Benness' The engineer on Icarus I, and a close friend of Shae's during the sixteen-month voyage. He was originally pleased to have someone his own age on the ship, however he was a little put out to discover that Shae was in fact four years his junior. Despite this, the two still got along well and Trent developed a protective, almost older brother type role towards Shae. 'Lynda Clark' The only other woman on board Icarus I. Therefore, Shae often felt that Lynda was the only person she could relate to, especially when it came to feminine issues that would mean she was scoffed at by the other guys on the ship. Shae could always trust Lynda to keep secrets, and that was why she told her many. The two shared a strong bond during their time, and Shae was devastated when Lynda was killed. 'Love Interests' 'Capa' Shae was drawn to Capa because of his introverted nature and that he liked to keep to himself. She often liked to observe him in silence, so as not to bother him. In turn, he was attracted to her rather solemn personality, and curious about all the things that happened on Icarus I that Shae wasn't telling them about. To Capa, Shae was at some level a puzzle that he wanted to solve. 'Mace' Mace was attracted to Shae initially because he thought she was pretty, but it grew deeper than that when he started to develop a sort of protective nature. He often felt that he needed to shield Shae from the horrors of everything that had happened and he strove to help her move past what had occurred on Icarus I, gradually earning her trust.